


Rise of the horror story

by Shaladaze



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Horror, Inspired by a Quiet Place, Monsters as spirits, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2020-07-12 18:08:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19950595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaladaze/pseuds/Shaladaze
Summary: It happened suddenly with no explanation. The world's population plummeted at such an alarming rate no one knew what was happening. People would die gruesome and horrible deaths seemingly by an invisible force. No one had any idea what was doing it or why. Scientists thought it was a virus, maybe even some alien life form but they were wrong.The adults didn’t know what was killing people.The children knew, but no one would listen to a child’s cries about the monsters they saw.





	1. It begins

North watched the world globe as lights started to flicker out faster than he had ever seen. A Yeti had barged into his office to tell him something was wrong with it but when they investigated it nothing was broken.

He watches as the lights flicker and die starting in America then quickly spread out like a plague. One after another they go out yet he feels no weaker. The belief is still strong, his powers all present so what could possibly be happening?

Listening to his gut feeling he grabs the handle for the lights, twists and pushes the button, to signal the guardians toward him.

“Prepare for guardian meeting! Is urgent.”

Lights of blue, purple, and green shoot through the skies, spreading over the world as to reach the far ends of each continent, where three beings of immense power would be able to see them. A sign of emergency shared between the guardians of childhood.


	2. Streets of red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes before you read this. I have never seen ‘A quiet place’ but I did see a short video about how they did the background noise and heard a few things from others about the movie. This story is more inspired by the idea of ‘A quiet place’ so if you liked the movie a lot maaaaybe don’t read this.

Jack taps his staff on the mailbox he is standing on before flying off, a shout of confusion and laughter sounding behind him as he runs up a building and frosts over the windows he steps on. Climbing up and up the buildings till he reaches the top of a spire.

“Haha! Now that, was fun!” Glancing to the sky he shouts, “Hey, wind? Take me home!”

The wind picks up gleefully as she hurls him into the air toward the winter child’s home in America. Together she throws him around, guides him over the ocean, and above the clouds. Playing with the eternal child all the way back.

Jack hollers with laughter and joy, flying was one of his favorite things to do. As soon as the town came into view he swooped down to his lake and slid across it, laughter quickly dying as he takes in a suddenly grim feeling.

He looks around the empty lake, a little surprised there wasn't anyone playing, “What…?”

Silent wind picks him up and lets him fall lightly to the fence of one of the closest house to his lake, it was small but homey and he knew the children who live here are strong believers in the mystical, but they were nowhere to be seen. Were they still at school?

Gut sinking low, he jumps to the top of the house and looks out into the street, what greets him is something he had only heard about in horror stories.

The asphalt is covered in blood. Red staining the snow like paint, crashed cars, and randomly dropped items lay about but not a soul in sight.

Covering his mouth more on instinct he looks up and down the road to see it looks the same as far as he can tell. Stepping off the roof he lands on the sidewalk where there’s no blood and looks closer at the stains. It looked kind of like claw marks.

A tug on his clothing from the wind has him looking up sharply, his nerves on edge. The tugging turns softer as if to apologize but continues to try to turn him around. Slowly he turns toward the house, it looks normal, all things considered. But the door was wide open. The mother of this family didn’t ever leave the door open.

Gulping down his fear he creeps into the house, normally he wouldn’t dare to do something like this but something was wrong and he had to find out what.

His first step inside shows the front room in ruins, furniture is overturned, spilled drinks and abandoned toys lay around the room but still he sees no life.

He inspects most of the down stairs when he hears the softest whine on the planet coming from the stairwell, whipping around he sees the family's dog, cowering at the top but clearly ready to attack him.

He smiles a little and kneels down at the bottom of the steps, “Hey, girl. I won’t hurt you. Come here?” He keeps his voice soft, afraid that if he makes too much noise he could scare her.

She bares her teeth, but doesn’t growl and he takes that as a win, “It’s ok, I won’t hurt you.”

Jack watches as the greyhound steps down the stairs, one at a time, sniffing in his direction. Once she gets close enough to his hand he freezes, waiting for her to make the next move.

They sit still for a long time when she seems to calm down and lick his hand before retreating back up the stairs just as slow as she had come down.

Keeping his voice as low as he can he asks her, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know what’s going on do you?”

The dog cowers at the top of the stairs and looks back at him before slowly, ever so slowly inching her way down the hall away from him. Making a judgment call, Jack hops up the stairs with grace and settles at the top looking at the empty hallway with some confusion. It looked like whatever tornado had happened downstairs it hadn’t gotten up here. Looking into the first door on his left he sees the master bedroom, it looks untouched save for the broken window and bloody marks on the floor.

Wincing away he turns to the next door on his left, it’s the bathroom, again empty and untouched. The next bedroom on the left has his heart squeezing, it’s a little girls bedroom, a young one by the looks of the toys. Turning around he sees the dog outside of the last bedroom on this floor, the door is closed and clearly she wants in. Taking the few steps over he turns the handle slowly, he’s scared of what he will find, it could be anything in here and he can only hope that maybe he won’t throw up. Pushing on it to crack it open he sees the room must be a young boys room.

Taking a deep breath he pushes the door open enough for the dog to sneak in and turns the handle back to its original spot. He still couldn’t figure out why he had this nagging feeling to not make noise.

A hitch in someone’s breathing, a whimper and rustling tells him all he needs to know. Squeezing into the room he looks to the other side of the bed to find the family huddled in the corner, staring at the door in alarm and fear. Realizing it was because of him, he shuts the door just as slowly as he had opened it, again staying quiet during the whole process.

They seem to relax if only a little when the door closes. The mother is hugging on to her child tightly, tears down her face and confusion warring with her need to be strong. In her arms she holds a little girl, her blonde hair contrasting strongly with her mother’s brown hair.

The dog nudges the little girls hand and she hugs it tightly. Whatever had happened had scarred this family for life. Stepping around the bed he only notices the blood when the mother flinches slightly. Looking closer, he can see the claw marks in her side, they aren’t deep but they still bleed. Wincing in sympathy he wishes he could do something for them but they can’t even see him.

His thoughts come screeching to a halt when he hears yelling outside.

“JANNET?! JANNET?! WHERE ARE YOU?! JANNET?!”

It’s obviously a male, he must be looking for someone he cares for. Looking back at the family, the little girl has started crying while the woman looks like her life has just ended. Standing swiftly he lunges out the open window and looks for the source of the voice.

“Come on, come on.”

“JANNET?!”

Whipping around he sees a bearded man, maybe in his early 40’s making his way down the street, hands cupped around his mouth to make his voice louder.

At first Jack can’t figure out why he is so afraid. Then he sees it. Something moving swiftly toward the man from behind, a huge hulking form of some sort of beast running at top speed down the road. His fear spikes to something ugly when he sees more than one, coming from almost thin air.

He looks back to the man and can’t understand why his fear isn’t mirrored, why isn’t he afraid? Why isn’t he trying to run? Then it dawns on him.

These beasts must be spirits.

Thinking quickly he dives at the man and freezes his mouth shut. He knows it could cause frostbite but he had no time and no options. Darting away again he faces the monsters and prays to the moon that he won’t die.

“HEY UGLY!”

The reaction is instant, suddenly all of the monsters are running toward him at breakneck speed, ignoring the now quiet man as they speed past him.

“WIND!” The wind, just as panicked as he is, sweeps him off of his feet and flings him down the road away from the monsters. Usually he could outfly anything but these things were going just as fast as he was. Fear almost blinds him from his task but the howling of the wind must keep their attention.

“We have to pick it up wind! Where’s a place with no people?!” He shouts.

He feels a tug on his hoodie and follows it, occasionally shouting at the beasts to keep their attention. By the time he reaches the destination he swears the numbers of them have doubled.

“I have to distract them.” Looking around he can see that a few of the cars in this area are unharmed and almost stops with relief.

Flying over all the cars he lands harshly on the rooftops of a few of them, setting off the various kinds of alarms through the street before hopping high into the air. Finally taking a huge breath he looks down at his work to see at least a dozen of the monsters destroying the cars that were making noise. He shudders not wanting to think about what they would have done to that man.

A sharp tug down has him whispering in panic, “Wind?! What are you doing?”

The tug comes again, more urgent and he knows better than not to listen to her after all these years. Following the tugging he is brought to a house that is dangerously close to the monsters and he feels his stomach drop. Wind must have found someone around here after he had set off the car alarms.

Panic surging anew he floats into the house and follows the tugging. It pulls him through the trashed living room before blowing strongly in his face. He jerks back and just barely misses being run into by one of the hulking forms of the beasts making its way to all the noise outside.

The stench of rotting flesh and blood hits his nose making him want to gag. The black skin of it peeling away from its face to reveal the pink fleshy inside brings bile to the back of his throat. It passes him and joins the others in their destructive warpath.

Fear pulses through his bones, turning him to stone as he stands in shock. That thing could have killed him. He almost died. His vision blurs over slightly, his breathing picking up, as his thoughts spiral, never seeming to focus on anything at all and keeping him in a state of panic.

A soft breeze through his hair brings him back to the present, taking in a much needed breath he sags so quickly he almost collapses. His breathing turns harsh and heavy while he tries to settle himself. He’s fine, it’s ok, nothing happened.

Wind does her best to soothe him, a panic attack right now would only make things worse. Gentle breezes through his hair, across the back of his neck and around his hands is all she could provide him with.

Blocking out the negative feelings, Jack resigns himself with dealing with them later. Standing straight once more he lets wind guide him to an open door around the corner, stairs leading down to the semi lit space.

Not risking the steps he jumps down to the cement floor with the help of wind and looks around. It’s harder to see with so little light but he can make out a shaking form in the far corner. Inching closer he bends down in front of the person-child crying on the floor.

Tears streak down his face, his eyes trained on the basement door like his life depended on it, and honestly it did.

Jack frowns, he knows this kid, he plays on the lake all the time. What is he doing half way across town in a strangers basement? Shaking his head he decides that question can be answered later. For now he has to get the kid out of here.

A loud crashing noise is heard from above and they both flinch. Whatever was happening it was only a matter of time before more came. Jack looks back to the boy and feels his heart ache for him. The kid’s tears are renewed and the shaking intensified, he hugs his legs closer to himself and the look of pure horror in his eyes is something that should never exist for such a small child.

Taking a breath he tries to think of a way to get the kid to follow him. He can’t touch him and that drives him crazy so he’ll have to figure something else out.

First though… waving his hand around he forms a small snowflake, putting as much joy as he can into it before letting it float into the kids face. Said kid flinches back and hits his head against the brick wall when it explodes on his nose. Jack reaches a hand forward to hold the kids head with a wince. He hadn’t meant for the kid to hurt himself. Wind doesn’t have enough time to stop him before his hand turns into blue smoke upon contact, his hand goes numb with a bone chilling cold, not real cold but something deeper. He rips his hand away and breathes through the feeling, it was nothing new but it was still surprising.

The boy takes a deep breath, the tears have stopped and even as he rubs the back of his head he seems calm. Jake takes it as a win, now how to get him to follow…

An idea hits him and he holds his hand up again and creates another snowflake, this one bigger than the last one and waves it around in front of the kid.

Said boy looks at it wonder, a small smile forming as it dances in the air. Jack stands and walks over to the stairs, careful to stay silent in his steps. The snowflake twirls and dances around his hand, the child’s eyes trained on it as it moves. Frustratingly though HE doesn’t move. Trying again he swings his hand closer to the kid before pulling it back, hopefully making a follow me gesture. When the boy continues to stare at it Jack slumps and looks to the roof.

“Come on…” holding back a groan as that was more noise he takes the snowflake up a couple of steps before coming back down and watching the boy stare.

Eventually it seems to click for the poor kid and he stands before walking over to the flake. Jack almost shouts for joy before remembering that such an action was bad. Slowly he walks up the stairs, the snowflake dancing between his fingers as he moves with the boy close behind.

Stopping at the top he leaves the snowflake to float in its little dance while he looks around the corner. It looked clear inside the house, but out the front door, he could still hear the cars wailing and the ominous crashing noises that came with it. They would need to find another way out.

Turning back to the boy he moves the flake to the back of the house near a cracked window. The kid was a little short but they could work with it. Thinking fast he drops the snowflake to the ground and lets it shatter before tapping his staff in its place, a stool made of ice forming when he pulls back. This could work.

The boy stares for a moment before tentatively stepping on it, it’s a slow process but he eventually peaks out the window. Jack makes another snowflake outside, leaving it for wind to play with while he helped the kid.

The kid pushes the window open before climbing through, landing a little louder than they were comfortable with but still not loud enough to attract the monsters attention away from the cars. Climbing out after him Jack steps out with much more grace and looks at the back yard.

It’s small and there isn’t much, there aren’t any loose boards as far as he can tell and there isn’t anything he could climb. Looking back to the child next to him he sees that his attention is still firmly placed on the snowflake that wind holds.

Determined now to make sure this boy gets to safety he takes the snowflake back and leads the boy to the fence before dropping it on the ground and creating a set of stairs to the top of the fence. Making sure it’s rough enough that the kid wouldn’t slip.

They both stare at it before a look of determination crosses the boys face and he marches forward quietly to climb the icy steps. Jack smiles a little, impressed that this little boy had so much spunk. Wind picks him up and he looks to the other side of the fence to see a yard similar to the last.

Making another snowflake he waits till the boy looks at it before hitting the top of the fence with it and creating a slide down to the bottom. The smile that appears makes Jack want to freeze the world for him and he has to cover his mouth to hold on his laugh when the kid slides down, looking around expectantly for the little snowflake.

Making yet another flake he repeats this process over every fence they encounter, turning it into some kind of game. Jack wasn’t used to having to be quiet since no one ever heard him anyway but now wasn’t the case. The boy seemed to be doing better at it anyway.

Jack watches as the kid climbs up another set of steps before frowning, he had his name on the tip of his tongue. He lived with the family he had seen earlier hiding inside of, presumably, the boys room. Their moms name was lost to him, he hardly saw her but the children he saw all the time! Billy? Defiantly wrong. J-Jerry? No. He makes another slide. Jason? Nope. Another flake. Ja-Jay. Closer.

The kid trips over something in the snow and lands hard on his face.

Jack jerks forward, “Jamie-?!” He flinches at his own stupidity. How could he forget to stay quiet?

Dropping a snowflake for wind to keep Jamie occupied he flights up to see if he had just doomed them both. Seeing nothing running towards them he floats back down slowly, nerves still on edge. He can’t do that anymore or he could get them both killed.

Looking at the brown haired boy he decides he should take a little more of a drastic measure to make sure he doesn’t mess up again and freezes his own mouth shut. Luckily, unlike the man from before, he can’t get frostbite.

Taking the snowflake back again they restart the process of getting away from the beasts. Up and over every fence they come across till they get to the street. Immediately, Jack regrets it when Jamie covers his mouth and the look of joy is replaced by muted horror. The streets were still bloody and the cars were a mess, littering the road with their parts. Jack uses the flake to get the boys attention again and leads him away from it all back to his family.

It’s a long walk when their trying to be quiet and avoid monsters at the same time. Along the way though Jack has learned a few things. First, the boy can see these monsters. Second, he was probably putting way too much trust in a little snowflake. And last, Jack can’t stand the silence. After all these years alone one would think he was used to it but they would be wrong.

Finally, finally they get to the boys house. The man from earlier has disappeared and Jack can only hope he lives. Leading the boy into his own house and to his room was an interesting experience since the kid should know all of this already but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to his surroundings.

Dropping the snowflake on the door knob he pushes it open enough that the boy would fit through and follows him in. Immediately the mother is on her feet, rushing to her child despite the pain she must be in. The little girl smiles wide when she sees her older brother and runs into his leg to hug him. The dog wags her tail and Jack has enough time to clamp his hands around her muzzle to stop her from barking and making all that work mean nothing.

The family don’t notice the dog’s sudden silence or lack of noise and Jack can only think himself lucky. Looking down at where he dropped his staff he wonders if he should do something more for the family. He was particularly fond of this little group and he wouldn’t be able to stand it if they got hurt. Looking back to the dog he slowly moves his hands away from her muzzle, prepared to clamp them down if she makes noise again.

Luckily she stays silent. Picking up his staff he makes a decision to get this family somewhere safe before those monsters come back. Making a snowflake he dances it around his hand, waiting for Jamie to see it. It takes a minute but he finally looks at the small bouncing object, he watches with rapt attention.

Taking that as his cue, Jack tosses the flake carefully at the door, moving around so he doesn’t go through anyone. He hits the doorknob with it and slowly opens the door.

The mother freaks out a little, tensing up significantly and throwing her arm in front of her children. The little boy grabs her hand staring into her face when she looks down, he smiles up at her and pulls her through the door.

Jack waits as the mother picks up the little girl carefully and follows her son with caution. Once they are in the hallway he floats in front of them and makes another snowflake. Jamie’s eyes snap to it and he walks forward. Smiling the white haired teen leads them down the stairs of their home and out the back door, they don’t need to see the streets. He leads them through the hole in the wooden fence, toward the forest. It was an unknown for them, but Jack could keep them safe in the forest.

They walk for quite some time, or at least until Jack notices how tired they look. He finds an alcove, not quite a cave since there weren’t any areas that big around here and waves the snowflake around the area.

The boy taking the hint, sits down and leans against the rock in the little area and looks at his mom. She glances around with uncertainty but sits next to him anyway. Jack looks back the way he came and gently drops the snowflake on the ground, creating a small patch of frost.

Jumping high into the air, he flies toward the city as he talks, “Hopefully they will stay there. It’ll be easier to find them then.”

The Wind blows at his back and he takes that as a cue to keep going, “I’m going to try searching for more little kids. If they can see the monsters then they might be more afraid than the adults.”


	3. Drowning

It’s a long process, searching high and low for lost children. He’s increasingly upset but grateful when he finds most of the children he recognizes. As far as he remembers Bergus has had less children in these last few years because it’s an old town. So maybe 20 were in the surrounding area? He remembered the kids complaining about how far away they had to go to get to a school but it made sense if there weren’t that many.

He leads every one he finds back to the small family in the forest. Their dog sits diligently on watch, staying quiet with each approach. By the time darkness had fallen, he was sure he lead 5 children into the forest. He was getting tired but he couldn’t stop looking. If he stopped someone could die.

He’s running along the telephone wire to see golden sand sweeping through the area, he had no idea if the guardians knew what was happening yet but he had to warn them.

Leaping up he slides his hand along one of the tendrils, watching the dolphin form and swirl around him before diving away. He didn’t know where the sandman was but maybe if he followed the tendrils he would find a few.

Before he can follow the sand a dark figure passes by so quickly he doesn’t see what it’s shape is. Slight panic has him stopping, if it was moving so quickly it must have heard something. Stealing his resolve, he follows the dark streak all the way into an alley. He looks around frantically for it.

“‘Ello mate.”

Spinning around quickly, Jack takes a moment to focus on what’s in front of him, after finally realizing who it is he takes a calming breath.

“Been a long time. Blizzard of ‘68 I believe. Easter Sunday wasn’t it?”

Jack’s panic picks up once again. If he kept talking the monsters were going to be on them in seconds. He waves his hands in front of his face, making a slicing motion across his neck.

The Easter Bunny doesn’t look amused, “Are you threatening me?”

The wind ruffles his clothing, a clear sign saying that ‘they’ were coming. Throwing all caution to the wind he speaks quickly, “Bunny, we don’t have time for this.”

Said rabbit nods his head in agreement, “You’re right. We don’t. Fellas?”

Something grabs the back of Jacks hood, hoisting him into the air before he’s plunged into darkness. Noises become muffled, and with the wind trying to get him out of the bag he can’t hear what’s happening around him. On his next breathe he’s being shaken around like a snow globe, the airborne feeling vanishing as soon as he hits the ground.

He lands with a grunt, light from above him has him scrambling out of his confines as fast as possible.

“Quite! Hey, there he is!” “Jack Frost!”

Jack blinks owlishly for a moment from his much lower position. Blindsighted by everything that had just happened. A soft, “Wow, you gotta be kidding me.” comes unbidden from his mouth.

Large furred hands pick him up and with growing irritation he looks to see the Yeti workers holding his arms.

“Wow hey! Put me down.”

They let him go before walking off in their own directions.

The big bearded man gestures to him, “I hope the Yeti’s treated you well?”

Jack flicks his staff up off from where he saw it on the ground, catching it on his shoulder, “Yeah, I’m totally ok with being stuffed into a sack and tossed through a magic portal.” His voice drips with sarcasm even as his face turns angry.

“Oh good, that was my idea.”

Jack’s jaw nearly hits the floor with that comment, did he really not get the sarcasm?

“You know bunny. Obviously.” The big man’s hand goes out to the side. “And the tooth fairy.”

Suddenly, Jack has a face full of feathers, “Hello Jack. I’ve heard so much about you!”

He flinched back as she gets closer, “And your teeth!”

His eyes squint, “My, my what?”

“Open up!” Fingers invade his mouth, prying his lips apart, “Are they really as white as they say?” She gasps dramatically as her hands move away, “They really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow.”

The smaller fairies around her chirp, making faces at him.

“Girls pull yourselves together! Don’t disgrace the uniform.”

She flies away from him just as suddenly as she had come.

“And Sandman. Sandy?... Sandy? Wake up!”

The small golden man startles awake looking around and up at Jack with a smile.

Nearing the edge of his patience, Jack voices his first question, “Ok, what am I doing here?”

Sandman lifts a finger, flashing images above his head that quickly stop making sense.

Jack waves his hand, “I- have no idea what that means. Thanks little guy.”

Standing up straight he backs away from them all, trying to take a breath of fresh air. That’s when he notices wind is being oddly quiet.

“Wow I must have done something terrible to get you all together. Am I on the naughty list?”

He’s rambling, he knows it. They don’t.

“On? Naughty list?” A finger gets pointed at him, “You hold the record. But no matter we overlook, now we are wiping clean the slate.”

Jack watches as the large man does a wiping action on his arm, “How come?”

Bunny makes a weird noise, “Heha good question.”

Santa walks forward slowly, “How come? I’ll tell you, how come!” he man stands up suddenly, throwing his arms wide, “Because now, you are guardian!”

Chaos breaks out around him, yeti’s are surrounding them, holding torches with FIRE on the end, elves come stomping out of random corners, blaring loud music.

Jack stumbles back when a group of fairies try to put something around his neck, only to be grabbed and held up by the yetis who hold their torches a little too close for comfort. He looks down sharply as something nudges his foot, only to see a group of elves holding shoes on a pillow. Slightly offended he looks back up. This was ridiculous.

A book is handed to north shortly after his ‘this is my favorite part’ comment and Jack decides he’s had enough. Lifting his staff high above his head, he doesn’t give any of them time to prepare against his magic as he slams it down on the ground. Frost spiders away from him on the ground, wind finally picking up enough with his power to push everything away from him, and thankfully blowing out the fires.

He looks around angrily as soon as he has all of their attention, “What is wrong with you?!”

When they stay silent he continues, “Haven’t you heard about what’s happening down on the northern hemisphere? In Bergus?”

When all their gazes turn confused he throws his arms out, “I don’t have time for this! I have to get back there. Now. Open a portal to Bergus, I can’t stay here.”

Bunny is the first one to recover, his face going angry, “You think we don’t know what’s going on?”

Tooth zips into Jack’s face, “You’re here for a reason Jack. We need you as a guardian.”

Her hands lift slightly and Jack doesn’t think he can take another moment of their company, “Fine! Fine! You know what? I’ll fly there!” Wind picks him up promptly at his calling, he had to get back to the family, he’s been gone too long and anything could have happened.

Bunny’s next words have him pausing, “Hah, you know what? I think we just dodged a bullet!”

Jack whips around so fast the wind drops him a few inches, “You don’t get to say that when people are dying.”

They all freeze, no pun intended.

“Dying? Jack, what are you talking about?”

The ice user looks at the fairy, debating if this was worth his time, “People are dying. I don’t know what they are but their attacking people and killing them. They aren’t animals or humans but some kind of monster. The worst part is I think their spirits of some kind because the adults can’t see them.”

The guardians expressions shift, none the same.

North folds his arms, “Spirits cannot interact with people who do not believe in them.”

Jack frowns, “I know that, but I’ve seen what they can do. Now I have to go. Please make a portal to Bergus. I have to get back there.”

North gives him a sceptical look before making a decision, “We will all go! I’m sleigh!”

Jack panics, “NO!”

Now they look at him startled.

“You can’t make any noise! If you make any sort of sound they can hear it and you’ll just lead the monsters right to us! You can’t come!”

Bunny looks at him offended, “Nothing attacked us when I was there.”

Jack scrubs his hands down his face, his staff tucked neatly in his arm, “That’s because we were lucky enough to get away before they could catch up. You don’t understand, these things are superhuman. Their gross and vicious murderers, they smell like dead bodies and blood. Please, I just have to go back. Alone.”

Sandy makes a calming gesture to him, obviously he was getting worked up.

“Jack, we are guardians. We can handle a few monsters. Now! Let us go! No sleigh? No problem! Get to use portal anyway!”

Jack groans as the man tosses a snow globe, once the portal is completely open he shoots through the swirling colors, not bothering to wait for the others.

He’s plunged into a dark night once more and he takes in his surroundings as fast as possible, he wasn’t sure if portals made noise but he didn’t want to take a chance. Once he is sure it’s safe he flies off in the direction of the forest. He had to find that family and all those kids.

Jack can hear the guardians coming through the portal and he just hopes against all odds that they don’t attract enemies and die because he really didn’t want to be blamed for something he didn’t do.

Wind helps steer him in the right direction, gently setting him on the ground before the huddled group of people. Their faces are filled with exhaustion and fear. None of them willing to close their eyes but also having a hard time staying awake.

Jacks heart aches in his chest. They weren’t safe here and they all knew it but there was no way they would make it to another location. His mind at war over what to do, he almost misses the dog bumping his leg.

Looking down, he sees the dog is just as tired but on guard. He’s almost surprised at how ready she looks for a fight.

Making up his mind, he makes several snowflakes and lets them fall over the group, if they could relax just a little bit he would be able to keep them safe while they slept. It takes a moment but the kids slowly nod off, one by one, letting their heads fall onto the mothers lap. She does not sleep so easily.

Deciding there’s nothing for it he sets to work, making a protective igloo around them and the dog to ensure that they stay at least semi-warm while they sleep. It’s not perfect since he usually makes them from the inside out but it works.

“Jack? What are you doing?”

Said teen flinches violently, whipping around and shushing the hulking figure behind him, “Shhhh! They’ll hear you.” He cringes after he finishes, really it was so hard to communicate when he couldn’t talk.

Tooth hovers closer, “Who will hear us?”

Jack holds up his hands, trying to get them to stop without actually touching them. This must have been how the children felt.

Bunny stands up straight, his ears swiveling left and right with a mild look of confusion on his face, “Hold on.” His voice lowers, “What's that?”

The group turns in different directions, trying to hear whatever it was the Easter Bunny had heard. Jack doesn’t need to.

Flying away from them as fast as possible, he makes sure he’s a good distance away before he starts shouting back towards them, “There are monsters in the forest! They will only attack you if you make noise! So stop talking or you’ll get those kids killed!”

As soon as he finishes, he’s tackled out of the air. Dirt and grass get up rooted when he crashes into the ground. Tumbling while something sharp digs into his arms and side, attempting to keep him down. Fear has him acting without his brain, his staff connecting with soft flesh and sending whatever was on top of him away before their momentum has even died.

Rolling with the motion, he finally stops moving enough to fling himself into the air. Just in time since one of the creatures lands where he had just been, claws deep in the earth.

Jack hits a branch above him, he hadn’t been able to set himself upright yet and with all the adrenaline pumping through his veins he can’t feel winds subtle pulls.

The creatures all face his direction, a dozen of them readying to lunge into the air at where they had last heard him. Jack tenses, readying his staff to hit them away when a boomerang comes flying through the dark with deadly accuracy.

A gruff voice soon follows, “What are these things?!”

Jack manages to dodge one of the lunging forms while the rest face the Kangaroo, “I told you, their monsters! And they only attack what they can hear!”

Once again, their facing him. It was starting to get unnerving.

“How do we get rid of them?” Tooth zips by them, taking their attention away from the winter spirit.

“I don’t know.” Jack shoots away from his current position, a few of the beasts having figured out he hadn’t moved in a while.

North barks out a loud laugh, “Then we fight them all!”

The surrounding forest is quickly filled with noise, the sounds of fighting echoing out around them ensuring that more creatures would hear them and come their way. Which was a bad thing because they were still too close to that group than he wanted them to be.

He turns around from his spot in a tree, “We have to move them away from that family!”

Bunny grunts as he forces one of the beasts off of him, “And how will we do that?!”

Jack tries to think as he moves again, the igloo was still just in sight through the trees, but only if you looked hard enough. If he could just get them back to town, or even a large body of water.

A sudden light bulb glows in his head, “I have an idea! Follow me!”

With a shout he dives down toward the creatures, nicking a few as he goes to get their attention. Their claws swiping through the air as they try to connect with his form but he doesn’t let them.

“Hey ugly! Yeah I’m talking to you! Let’s take this somewhere a little colder, shall we?!”

As he flies, more and more creatures focus on his yelps and laughter, it was almost like keep away. He was very good at that game.

Dodging left and right as he goes, he races back to the lake he always seemed drawn to. With the time of year, the lake should be thawing out right now and he never thought that idea would make him happy.

Jack breaks through the trees with the loudest whoop he can manage, shooting over the ice with a grin, “I would bet that you guys can’t really swim. Not with how fast you run.”

He looks back in time to see one of the creatures lunge at him, too close for comfort and definitely within hitting range. Time seems to slow as the creature grabs his leg and pulls him back towards it. Just in time for gravity to come back into effect.

Jack gasps as they hit the thin ice, it’s loud crack deafening as water engulfs them. Panic like he’s never experienced in his life has the teen trying to take in air, but is assaulted by water instead. The claws had disappeared and while Jack can’t remember why that’s a good thing he can’t seem to get any closer to the light he can see above him.

It was dark again, too dark to see, too dark to hear, he holds his staff closer to his body, trying to anchor his mind to it and focus of swimming. He has seen tons of kids do it in the past. It wasn’t a hard idea, just kick your legs and move your arms, it wasn’t that hard.

Water rushes past him in a whirlpool and suddenly he’s out of the water, gasping and choking out as much liquid as he can while simultaneously freaking out.

“Jack! Jack? You need to breathe.” Tooth’s voice is filled with a sort of tension he can’t place.

Bunny is patting him on the back, “Come on. I know you’re having a hard time there but those things are starting to get out of the water and we didn’t know what your plan was?” The speed I which the kangaroo talks would usually make him laugh.

All at once he remembers what he was doing. Those things can’t leave the water. Ever. Forcing as much power as he can muster into his staff, he swings it around and lets it out behind him, hoping against everything that that’s where the lake had been. Ice quickly blocks his vision and if it weren’t for the swimming they were already doing, he would be blinded.

Dropping back into his hands, he coughs up as much water as his burning lungs will allow before the urge to throw up makes it worse. It takes him far longer to get over his panic attack than it does to start breathing again.

When he finally shakes off the uneasy, making sure to keep his focus on how wind brushes past him, he looks up at the faces around him. They would almost be too close, if their focus was on him and not what was behind him.

Turning slowly, he flinched back when he registers a hand right in his face, or rather a claw. Moving slowly, he tilts his head so he can look past it and at the rest of the horrifying sculpture before him.

It was honestly going to haunt him for a while, monsters piled on top of each other, their too long arms outstretched and clamoring over each other, creating gouges in what sling can be seen, reaching towards him. Their mouths open, and displaying some of the blood still fresh on their teeth, and if he looked too closely, pieces of something he didn’t want to name. Water spraying out in all directions the only thing betraying how fast those things had been moving, and more dreadfully, how close they had been to death.

A gentle hand settles on his shoulder and he can’t help the full body flinch as he pulls away, only stopping when he sees colorful feathers and not black leather.

“Sorry.” Her hands cover her mouth as soon as the word leaves it. At least now he knows they’ll be quiet.

Sandy lifts his hands on a settling manor, trying to ease all of them down from their tensed positions. Slowly, sand forms above him moving only when he knows they are all looking.

The gold moves to show them all standing up and leaving to find the igloo, their hunched positions and slow movements suggesting they be sneaky and checking on the family before finding somewhere they can talk.

Jack agreed with the plan and stands up, he knew these forests well so he decided it would be best if he lead. He waits till they all stand, following him quickly and as quietly they can muster. Luckily for them, three of them could fly. Unluckily for them, the two biggest people could not.

It took longer for them to get back to the family than if he had been alone but he didn’t mind since they were being quiet. The igloo sits as it had when he left, unharmed and still standing. Inching closer, he climbs through the small opening to peak at the group. A small relieved smile touches his face when he sees the dog quietly sleeping while surrounding the youngest of the bunch. If he remembered correctly, her name is Sofie. The mother had finally fallen asleep, though she doesn’t look comfortable sitting up.

Inching back out of the hole he gives the guardians a thumbs up, their looks of relief rival his own. Bunny makes a gesture with his hand, paw? Before tapping his foot on the ground as quietly as possible. A hole opens up, large enough that they can all fit into and none of them hesitate to jump in. When it closes, their standing in a tunnel.

“A’ight. You have some explainin’ to do.” The kangaroo points to Jack with a tired look on his face.

Jack sighs and leans back against the wall, “I don’t know much. I was flying around the world and the next thing I know, I land on a house to see the streets covered in blood and broken cars.”

Tooth makes a face and covers her mouth.

North strokes his beard, “So their is nothing you can think of that started this?”

Jack shakes his head, “All I know is that those things are dangerous. I haven’t actually seen them do anything except attack everything that makes noise and smell like blood but I can assume some things.”

Sandy makes a few pictures above his head, when Jack just stares at him in confusion, Bunny translates, “Tell is what you can. From the begging.”

Jack nods, resigning himself to having to rethink about today’s events, “I’ll try. I don’t think it’s a great story though.” When he only gets encouraging looks from them, he jumps up to sit on his staff, “Ok, well. I flew to the lake you guys saw, expecting to see a bunch of kids but instead it was quiet, like the kind of quiet that makes your skin crawl. When I jumped onto the roof of the closest house to see what was going on, I only saw blood and broken cars, or stuff thrown everywhere. I jumped down to investigate and wind helped me find an open front door to the house I was on. Now I know that family pretty well, and their mom never, I mean never. Leaves the door open. So I went inside to see if something was wrong.” He pauses when Tooth’s face falls, “I… the house wasn’t in good shape. The furniture was all knocked over, stuff scattered like it had been thrown. I found a dog inside the house that led me up the stairs and to a little boy’s room.” Sandy’s form tenses and bunny flicks his ears a little, “When I went inside, the mother and little girl were hiding in the corner. The mom had a little bit of blood on her shirt so I think something got her but they weren’t making a sound. They hardly breathed.” He fidgets with his hoodie pocket, “Then someone started yelling outside. The pair looked like they were going to die. So I jumped out of the window and found the man.” North leans forward, “I saw the creatures running at the man at top speed, he looked in their direction so many times but he never tried to run away. That’s when I realize they were spirits.”

Bunny frowns, “But if their spirits, then humans can’t be hurt by them.”

Jack looks him dead in the eye, “I wasn’t about to test that theory. Especially after seeing that mom.” Bunny goes quiet, “I froze the man’s mouth shut and started yelling to get the monsters attention. They flew right past the guy to chase me.” He sighs, mentally slipping over a few parts, “I got rid of them and found a little boy, his name is Jamie, he was hiding in a basement, looking at where the monster had disappeared. So I used my magic and got him out of there.”

Tooth hovers a little closer, “But how did you get him to follow you?”

Without thinking Jack waves his hand in front of the tooth fairies face, waving a snowflake around and between his fingers, “Kids can see snow can’t they?”

North barks out a laugh, “That is brilliant Jack! What else happened?!”

Letting the flake fall, he shoves his hand into his pocket, “I took Jamie back to his family, then I led them into the forest. I kept doing this with every little kid I could find. Snowflake, forest, leave with the mom, back again, repeat.”

Sandy flashes a few things over his head, this time Tooth translates, “You must be really brave. I have to agree with Sandy, that was some amazing fast thinking there.”

Jack feels a blush on his cheeks and hides it by throwing up his hood, “I just wanted to help.”

North seems to come to some sort of conclusion with himself as he throws his arms out in the small space, “And That right there is what makes you a great guardian.”

“This again.” Bunny mutters from His squished spot against the wall, then a little louder, “North we don’t really have time for this.”

As the two start to bicker, Sandy floats up to Jack's level and slowly makes his sand move, trying to convey what he’s saying. It twists into a vague figure of a woman before one of the creatures quickly joins her. It’s claws swipe at her, slashing some of the sand away from her side before leaving.

Jack nods, “Yeah, she was hurt, I don’t know how bad but she seemed ok last I checked on her.”

Sandy gives him a small thumbs up before shifting his sand into different forms of medical equipment.

“I’m not sure. I was thinking of trying to find some bandages and something to prevent infection.”

The golden man nods approvingly before looking to Bunny and North, where the two have gotten nose to nose.

Tooth darts between them, “Ok. Enough of that. We need to think of a plan to deal with these things, or at least find a safe place for the family and kids. They can’t stay in an igloo forever.”

North backs off before nodding, “You are right. They can’t stay at pole. Too cold.”

Tooth tilts her head, “Well the palace is only accessible it you can fly.”

Sandy shrugs, making an island with his sand and someone falling through.

All eyes turn to the tallest in their group, eyes closer to predators than friends.

The kangaroo folds his arms, “Oh no. We are not doing this.”

They stay silent as they stare at him.

“It’s two days before Easter! I can’t do that!”

The silence persists, “I’s not up for debate! There’s too much magic for their human bodies to handle!”

Jack watches in awe as the kangaroo crumbles, “Ok just stop lookin’ at me! I’ll take em to the Warren but no one else ok?! And they have to stay asleep.” He points a finger at the now cheering golden man, “Do you hear me?”

Sandy nods with enthusiasm while Tooth hugs Bunny, “Aw! I knew you were a softy.”

North quickly joins in with a childish cheer, popping backs as he tightens the hug before dropping them, “Alright! We have plan! Let’s grab the kids and go!”

Jack interrupts their happy moment with a grimace, “One problem.” They turn to him with a question on their face, “Their mom.”

Tooth lets her hands drop, “Right, the adult. None of us can touch her.”

Bunny gives a mischievous grin, “Maybe we won’t have to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a heck of a lot longer than I’m used to.


	4. Sleds

Jack stares at the ice sled he had whipped up on the kangaroos request. It was large and as thick as he could get it without making it look ridiculous.

He turns to the tall Easter bunny with a thumbs up, “That’s the best I got.”

Bunny nods, “It’ll work. Now brace it, when I open a hole under them I don’ wan’ anyone fallin’ off.”

Tooth grumbles about the plan being a reckless move but it hadn’t taken much to convince her to agree. Sandy had thrown in that he could probably cushion their fall with his sand but wasn’t sure if it would work on the adult. She was the wild card of their plan. North had looked both amused and uncomfortable at the same time while the whole conversation went on and obviously Jack was completely on board with the idea.

Jack ices the sled to the floor with an impish grin, “This is going to be awesome.”

Bunny scoffs before tapping his foot on the ground. Jack flies out of it, locating the igloo before landing. This next part was easy, all he had to do was tap his staff on the ground as close to the group as possible. At least it should have been.

He taps the ground and a hole swallows the group soon after. As the hole is closing he hears a loud yelp and someone scrambling. It closes before he can hear anything else.

He tilts his head in confusion, “That didn’t sound good.”

Wind whips past his hair and with the sharp reminder, he slaps his hand over his mouth. Looking around wildly, he listens for any other noises or sounds of running. The ground opens up and he crashes to the floor with a loud yelp, wind cut off before it could get to him.

“And here we thought you were the one tryin’ to keep US quiet.”

Jack feels hands lift him up off the ground, much like the Yeti’s had, “Ha ha ha. Did they land ok?”

Tooth cringes, “Weell…” she floats sideways so he can see the group. What he finds startoes a laugh out of him, “We got the kids down just fine, the dog too! But the mom…”

The kids sit nestled together on the ice sled, the dog underneath their heads as a kind of pillow. Jamie’s mom however, looks to have missed the sled altogether, her form slumped on the floor with North looking lost as to how to move her.

Bunny shoves his shoulder, “Hey, we tried but she has no belief in any of us. None of us could touch her.”

Jack shakes his head, “Can you use something else?”

Sandy shakes his head, sand flowing easily over his head, tooth translates, “Everything we have on us is made from our magic. It can’t touch others if they don’t believe. Kind of like your staff.”

Taking a moment to think about it, the winter spirit walks over to the adult on the ground, sleeping peacefully like she hadn’t just fallen into a rabbit hole. Making a decision, he turns to Sandy.

“Can I wake her up?”

They all startle are that, Sandy most of all as his pictures flash quickly.

Bunny folds his arms, “I have to agree, that is a bad idea. Besides, with the dream sand she won’t wake up.”

Jack nods, “I know. But if I can get her to sit on the sled you can put her back to sleep.”

North shakes his head, “Bad idea. She won’t be able to see or hear you.”

He huffs, “I got them to follow me into the forest. I can get her one the sled.”

Tooth flutters closer, “What makes you so sure.”

With a roll of his shoulders, Jack brings his magic to his finger tips, “I got it. Just let me try.”

Doubt is heavy on their features, but Sandy nods his head anyway. They all sit quietly as the gold sand that had been in the woman’s hair floats back towards it source, though she doesn’t wake.

Lifting his staff, Jack makes a few thick icicles on the ceiling. Then with a spin of his crook, he whacks them. They crash to the ground, the sound echoing on the walls and ultimately scaring the adult awake. She sits up, her movements jerky as she tries to force her body into action. Fear and pain on her face, most likely caused by the memories from before.

Magic once more in his hands, the winter spirit creates a single snowflake that drifts in front of her, swaying slowly as Jack tries to calm her back down. It takes some time and a few jerky motions of the flake before she finally seems to take a calming breath. Even though he’s ready for it, the way her eyes seem to pass right through him when she looks around still cause a deep ache in his chest. Confusion is the next thing on her face, clear as day.

He smiles to himself, he can work with confusion. Moving the flake into her face again, he waits until she’s focused on it before moving it to the sled.

Jacks so absorbed in his task that Bunny’s voice startles him, “I don’t think that’ll work mate. She can’t really see anything.”

Blue eyes turn to the kangaroo, “What?”

He gestures around them, “The light we can see is made by my magic alone. Sandy’s and tooth’s natural glow too. She can’t see anything.”

Once more he focuses on the woman, her eyes are turned to him, an obvious squint he had missed before on her face.

“No, I think she can see something. It’s not pitch black down here is it?”

Bunny shrugs, “It’s not totally dark, but it’s close enough.”

Jack smiles, “Then that’s all I need.”

Waving the flake back to her, he waits for that focus to come back before slowly moving it back and forth, the same way he had done with Jamie. It takes her longer to understand but eventually she stands on shaky legs and follows him to the sled.

North whistles lowly, “I’m impressed.”

Her foot taps the sled and Jack lets the snowflake fall, she sits easily enough, though she does cringe at the cold. Once she’s settled, he dances the flake over her hand.

Tooth flits closer, “What are you doing?”

“She needs to know her kids are safe.” Slowly, and with care, he guides her hand to rest on top of Jamie’s head. Watching the recognition and relief bring tears to her eyes.

Jack turns to Sandy, “Should be able to put her back to sleep now right?”

The golden man gives him a thumbs up, waving his hands around to gather up a glowing halo of dust before drifting closer to drop it onto her head. Her form going limp with exhaustion. Jack barely has time to create a higher wall before she’s slumped on it.

North claps his hands, “Nice catch!” He throws his arms up, “Now we go!” With a loud whoop he grabs the handles of the sled, shoves forward, leaping onto the legs underneath and races down the tunnel before anyone can stop him. His laughter carrying back to thee ears.

Bunny grumbles, “Can’t even wait for us that-“ his words fade off as he races after the larger guardian.

Tooth shrugs her shoulders at Jack before she too is racing down the tunnels.

The winter spirit turns to the last guardian, an exasperated look on his face, “Are they always like that?”

The golden man silently laughs, nodding his head before gesturing for him to go first. Not a moment later, the two are racing each other to see who can get to the end first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually try to keep these chapters long but I couldn’t muster it up for this one.


End file.
